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HOUSTON -- NASA will preview the next space shuttle mission during a series of news briefings on Friday, Oct. 16, at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA Television and the agency's Web site will broadcast the briefings live. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations, including Kennedy Space Center.

Shuttle Atlantis' 11-day mission, designated STS-129, is targeted to launch Nov. 12. The flight will include three spacewalks and the installation of two platforms to the International Space Station's truss, or backbone. The platforms will hold spare hardware to sustain station operations after the shuttle is retired. Atlantis also will return NASA astronaut Nicole Stott after spending more than two months aboard the orbiting laboratory. This is scheduled to be the final time a station crew member will be returned home on a space shuttle flight.

Charlie Hobaugh will command Atlantis. He will be joined by Pilot Barry Wilmore and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Michael Foreman and Robert Satcher. Wilmore, Bresnik and Satcher will be making their first trips to space.

Also on Oct. 16, Atlantis' six astronauts will be available for interviews at Johnson. Reporters must contact Gayle Frere at 281-483-8645 by Oct. 13 to reserve an interview opportunity.

U.S. reporters planning to attend the briefings in Houston must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 6 p.m. EDT on Oct. 13 for credentials. Journalists representing foreign media, regardless of citizenship, must contact the Johnson newsroom by 5 p.m. on Oct. 2.